“Pulled Over For 78 In A 50, Told I Have Suspended Licence”

Driving to work this morning going east on Eglinton just East of Laird and I get pulled over.

Cop tells me he was doing radar and clocked me at 78 km an hour.

Admittedly I was going fast but didn't think it was that fast on top of which I was under the impression I was in a 60 zone.

Cop takes my licence and registration and comes back with his recording device running tells me I'm being recorded and that my licence was suspended prior to being pulled over.

I knew I had an unpaid ticket but had received no notification of a suspension.

He went back to his car and came back some time later with a notice of suspension, a summons to appear for the 78 in a 50 and for driving with a suspended licence both on the same date.

On a side note the cop was quite personable. He went back to his car turned off the camera and recording device and allowed me to pull off the road into a parking lot to leave my car as opposed to having it towed.

I have no clue where to go with this. I need to be able to drive to and from work. Can I pay my unpaid ticket and the reinstatement fee and continue driving prior to the court date? What should my action be when appearing? I don't see how I could be held accountable to driving with a suspended licence when I had received no notification of it. As far as the summons for speeding, the cop did not right a ticket or any sort of fine it says I am being charged with speeding section 128. What does this mean? Any clarification or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

If you pay your outstanding fines and the reinstatement fee, you should be able to legally keep driving until your Court date.

Arguing you weren't aware of the suspension might be difficult since you were aware of the outstanding fine. Since a conviction for driving under suspension would greatly impact your insurance rates, I'd suggest hiring a paralegal to help you dispute the charge. You could also try requesting a first attendance meeting yourself and see if the Crown is willing to offer you a plea deal. Sometimes they will drop drive suspend charges to drive motor vehicle with no licence (equivalent of driving with an expired licence), a much less serious charge.

Since you've received summons to attend Court versus a regular ticket you can just pay, they don't have any fines on them. The final fine is for the Court to decide.

Just an FYI, Eglinton is 50 km/h west of laird. Travelling eastboud, it goes up to 60 as you go down the big hill. Cops are always doing radar along the stretch between Laird and Bayview (and along most of Eglinton east of there up to Victoria Park, for that matter). So for future reference, don't speed along Eglinton, or drive in the bus lane during off limit hours, they're always nailing people for that along the same stretch as well.

Thanks for your responses. I've been led to believe by several people that despite knowing of the outstanding fines that due to no notification (probably due to my recent address change) that I will probably get a reduction or toss of out the driving under suspension. Furthermore when I read the initial ticket, nowhere on it does it state that failure to pay will result in a suspension of license (the initial fine was for making a left from Eglinton onto Young "disobey legal sign"). I'm going to do my best to get the driving under suspension reduced if not thrown out. On another note though, what are the chances you think of getting the speeding points reduced (fine is irrelevant to me) so as to not as steeply impact my insurance rates. Would I benefit from trying to set two separate court dates for the respective summons in an attempt to gain leniency on both or perhaps prolong it enough that the Crown will be more willing to plea?

Also, any good recommendations on a reasonably priced paralegal?

They will not set two separate trial dates for offences that occurred at the same time. It will be one trial for both.

As for the speeding charge, a reduction is unlikely if they reduce/drop the drive suspend charge as well. Regardless, insurance companies don't go by demerit points. 15 over (with no points) and 28 over are treated the same, as insurance companies rank all offences as minor, major or serious. Even 28 over should be considered minor, and will have little if any impact on your rates if it's your only conviction. The drive suspend is the one you have to be careful with, as your rates will easily double if convicted.